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Florida State Board of Administration pensions:

A risky bet on the boss' friend

[Chris Kozlowski | Times]

A deal to steer up to $100 million of Florida pension fund money to Bayview went forward though staff of the State Board of Administration and its paid consultants cited red flags. Below are links to dozens of documents, including responses from Florida pension fund chief Ash Williams and from Bayview, a mortgage company Williams has connections to. Bayview seeks to profit from the mortgage meltdown and homeowners facing foreclosure. Also included in the documents: Bayview's promotional material and the SBA approval memo that cribbed generously from it.

Staff told of Williams' ties

"My very good friends''

A chain of e-mails that begins with Andrew Fredman contacting his former associate at Fir Tree Partners, Ash Williams, and introducing Fredman's associates at Bayview, who also were investors at Fir Tree.

Copy and paste

The first document is among the marketing materials Bayview's David Ertel sent to the SBA's Ash Williams. The second document is the SBA's "approval memo,'' which lifted language from Bayview's promotional material. The third document is the extremely similar approval memo signed a year later, by Ash Williams.